The Thrust of an Elastic Soil of Variable Density Against a Rigid Wall

Abstract

The theory of the equilibrium of a wall retaining earth masses was formulated by Coulomb in 1773. This is still applied by engineers in order to design walls. However, while Coulomb’s theory assumes that the material is earthy, like sand of soft clay, in actual fact the soil often behaves elastically, and thus the stress state inside the mass and the associated pressures on the retaining walls are different. Here we study a boundary value problem of linear elasticity in order to determine the stresses exerted by a heavy elastic mass on a rigid vertical plane, or approximately, on a rigid half-plane.

Author was deceased at the time of publication. Professor Emeritus of the Mechanics of Solids and Structures at the University of Pisa and member of the celebrated Accademia dei Lincei. In 1966 he was appointed Professor of Mechanics of Solids and Structures at the Engineering Faculty of the University of Pisa, a role that he held until his retirement in 2008. He was also Professor of Continuum Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics at the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa.